one if by land, two if by sea.
i remember reading over and over a children's storybook about the story of Paul Revere.
about how they knew the british were going to be coming to attack and that men sat from high up and watched to see how they would come so they could tell the other rebels how and where to respond.
i was always fascinated by the guy in the belltower...how everything was crucial to his putting up one lights or two. how the battle wasn't just about fighting, it was about strategy, even on such a simple level. how everyone was counting on this one guy to handle the lamps responsibly.
when it came down to it, though, it didn't matter who he was. it didn't matter whether the guy was educated or not. he'd most likely read some Thomas Paine...and even the farmers back then were pretty decently read, from what i've read...but who knows, maybe he wasn't the best-read guy in the group. maybe he was a lousy shot. shoot, for all we know, the reason he was in that tower is because he was an absolute asshole and no one wanted him around anywhere else. it was in a church tower so it may well have been a minister. i don't know. i'm sure i could find out with enough studying, eventually. but the point is that he as an individual...well, his individuality, his essence, is not what counted at that moment. what counted is his action. i realize this comes off as horribly utilitarian and we can rationalize away many things just by saying "for the greater good." my point, however, is that life is crazy and we never know when we may be that guy in the belltower. we don't know when we might be thrust into a situation and suddenly be the one who is responsible for shining the right lights. one of the great cliche misnomers is that "every child who is born could grow up to be President of the United States." we all know that the child is generally going to need to be white, male, and privileged to make that happen. however, what about the belltower guy? if andy warhol was right about everyone's 15 minutes, then we all have our belltower moments, even if they are just on a small level. i'm not saying all this to be some sort of "hope and inspiration" piece...what i'm saying is that whoever we are, at some point we're responsible for more than just ourselves, and perhaps we should be ready. there are certain people who i know already are going to be around, are extremely talented and driven, doing more than just the belltower thing, are or are going to be influencing a good number of people on a fairly steady basis--people like neil, carole, liz, seth, kyle, michial, and a bunch more--and these are all people i think the world of and get really excited fairly often at what can be accomplished and i believe will be--but when it comes down to it, we never know when something might happen and someone, anyone, will need to handle the belltower. and i suppose, when it comes down to it, the reason i say all this is because while i alluded to a bit of the negative side of this yesterday, i want to be someone who, while my influence or whatever may never really be anything big, if i can be of influence to people in small ways, in such a way that when their belltower times come, they are able to take care of what needs done, then i'll have accomplished what i was put here to do.
ok, i'm done with self-centered, self-indulgent blathering now. at least for a while.